The reviews I saw... IGN, GameSpot, etc... seem to be averaging the game around 8/10. Metacritic has an average of 72% which indicates an above average game with flaws.

Personally, I like this game even if it does feel very derivative, not only in terms of its Dark Souls-inspired gameplay but also its industrial sci-fi setting. Despite that though I got quite addicted to the game last night and ended up playing it for almost three hours, basically grinding the same area with some exploration to acquire the body parts and tech scrap needed to build more powerful armour and level up. I like the way the enemies seem challenging at first but then become easier as you learn the combat system and become better equipped to deal with them. I've still died a few times, usually through carelessness (being attacked by two or even three enemies at once or failing to see that my health was low).

The combat doesn't feel as satisfying as Dark Souls though and all the weapons so far have been melee-based so I found myself yearning for a shotgun or even a basic laser to take out some of the easier flying drones. This is an industrial plant after all so you would think there would be lasers lying around that could be modified into weapons... the flying drones can fire projectiles for example yet destroying them does not grant you their weapon which is a bit disappointing.

Not sure how long I will play the game; I guess it will last me as long as the urge to explore lasts and as long as the enemies remain challenging but not frustrating (i.e. as long as I can avoid boss fights!).

I think it's a good game overall so far, although the setting isn't quite as interesting to explore as, say, Dark Souls or Bloodborne plus there aren't many different types of enemies so far (and the few I have encountered all use the same tactics so there's no variation or surprises, which can either be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how hard you find the gameplay).

Mapping the dodge button to Circle will no longer cause the player to dodge every time the player "backs out" of the game menu.
Possible crash when leaving New Game+ at the beginning and starting a new game.
Gameplay blocker if the player does not collect the Security Exo-Rig after destroying the case. This will also fix broken saves.
Various AR elements should no longer appear in the wrong locations.
Counter attacks on drone enemies are no longer interrupted when using a Single-rigged weapon.
Closed door in Resolve Biolabs now opens correctly. This will also fix broken saves.
Using an implant that is on cooldown in the same moment an enemy is finished will no longer cause a repeating error message .
Fixed issues where armor items were unable to be equipped in New Game+.
Hobbs no longer asks for help after the player has helped him.
Player can no longer get stuck at certain stairs in the tunnels of Resolve Biolabs.
Player can no longer target the upper part of PAX while PAX is standing up.
Sorting items by 'Newest' now works properly.
Removed Quicksave/Quickload bindings.

Improvements & Tweaks

Improved behavior of the Security Guard.
The music in Ops will no longer play after the player has died and respawned.
Improved behavior of the Black Cerberus when his attacks are blocked.
Elevator positions have been adjusted to avoid waiting for an elevator after dying.
Proximity Sensor no longer emits a beeping sound when an enemy is locked.
Character is now invulnerable for a short time after a finishing move is finished.
Increased the duration of the stamina buff triggered when collecting enough Tech Scrap to be worth a level up.
Reduced the stamina cost for continually blocking.
Increased the time for the continual block stamina cost to begin.

all developers care about is eyecandy for me thats last on my list for a game

dunno about developers, but i got bored looking at what looked like the same room reorganized over and over and over again.
I might be wrong and there's a lot more variety, but that's not what i got after watching close to 2 hours worth of video footage.

I'm stuck on the second level and have no idea where to go as I've opened all the doors and explored the area completely.

Click to show spoiler

There's two guys in Ops, one called Hobbs who needs a drug (where is that?) and down some stairs is a woman asking for a weapon (I tried to give her an upgraded pipe but she refuses to take it).

My core level is 45, I have the Rhino armor on (plus bonus for wearing it) and my weapon profiency is 13. The weapon itself is rated 70 damage. There are some panels that show 70 and 75 on them but my level is too low to overload them (I can't even do the 50 one on the first level yet).

There is a security door near Ops but it denies me access. There are also several other doors which annoying tell me they cannot be unlocked yet. I reached the area where you use the panels to extend the bridges and change the status of the recycler.

What on earth do I do? I have literally explored everywhere I can get to.

I'm stuck on the second level and have no idea where to go as I've opened all the doors and explored the area completely.

Click to show spoiler

There's two guys in Ops, one called Hobbs who needs a drug (where is that?) and down some stairs is a woman asking for a weapon (I tried to give her an upgraded pipe but she refuses to take it).

My core level is 45, I have the Rhino armor on (plus bonus for wearing it) and my weapon profiency is 13. The weapon itself is rated 70 damage. There are some panels that show 70 and 75 on them but my level is too low to overload them (I can't even do the 50 one on the first level yet).

There is a security door near Ops but it denies me access. There are also several other doors which annoying tell me they cannot be unlocked yet. I reached the area where you use the panels to extend the bridges and change the status of the recycler.

What on earth do I do? I have literally explored everywhere I can get to.

I am stuck in the same place buddy i dont bother with those 2 machine things they 2 shot me anyway

I am stuck in the same place buddy i dont bother with those 2 machine things they 2 shot me anyway

Ah, I just had a sneaky look at a walkthrough and I completely missed a stairway going down just through a doorway to the left in the area where the two bridges extend. I went through that area five or six times as well. Duh!

I guess I could blame the third-person view because I doubt I would have missed it so easily if the game had been first-person.

Good im past that and now im at the Board after talking to Dr. Bennett.

The boos there is too strong for me atm. I dont know...its really stressful.
You fight one with a thunderaxe and if you take some health from him hes running away and the boss you beat 1st is coming. If you beat him, the guy with his axe is coming back and the same again.

I managed to get to "phase 3" but then the guy constantly is attacking and im only dodging. ^^ At this stage the boss only lost 1/10 of his health.

Guess after you damaged him again some more the robotor boss is also coming again.

24 hours in and I have really started to appreciate this game more on a technical and gameplay level.

The environments lack variety and come across as a bit sterile and bland but it feels believable and cohesive in a way that Dark Souls does not (due to its dreamlike/nightmarish fantasy stylings) and there's some nice details. Animations are excellent and some of the lighting effects on later rigs look really impressive when running through darkened corridors and rooms. The game also runs superbly on my system; a locked 60 fps at maxed out 2560x1440 settings and that's with 130% resolution scaling too (any higher and the game can dip below 60 fps).

The gameplay is tough but I like that the game focuses more on exploration and fighting "normal" enemies over boss fights as it means I feel like I can get further without being frustrated. Also, the level is design is excellent with each area being relatively small but laid out in a way that opens up shortcuts the more you play it. I also like that (the few) NPC you meet feel more natural to interact with here than Dark Souls/Bloodborne (From's games don't even bother to lip-sync the characters). Your character even speaks giving a more conventional and, IMO, better RPG feel than Dark Souls.

If I have one criticism it is that the game's objectives can be confusing, not helped by the fact that you have to backtrack. Twice I have had to consult a guide to find out where I was supposed to go, not helped by the lack of a map. Sure, Dark Souls didn't have a map either but in a game where you are surrounding by technology and computers it seems absurd that there isn't one here. Also, the loading times are fairly long the first time I load it up (from a hard drive... takes several minutes) but switching between areas after that takes 2 seconds! Restarts after dying are also very quick.

A very good game IMO; very addictive, well-polished on PC and different enough to not feel like a blatant Dark Souls rip-off (the way you target specific weak spots to sever heads and limbs for upgrades is a neat mechanic IMO).

I have 2x Seagate 7,200rpm 64MB and 1x WD Black 7,200rpm 64 GB hard drives SATAIII hard drives and some games do seem to take an alarmingly long time to load from either three. DOOM (2016) for example used to take an absolute age until I relocated it to my 1 TB boot SSD and now it loads up (unsurprisingly) in seconds. Most games load fairly quickly though (Prey for example).

I just assumed this is normal but perhaps there's something wrong with my setup? I do have five hard drives connected though (one boot SSD, three games and one internal backup hard drives). I also have two BD-ROM drives connected via SATAIII. I use the latest Intel RST driver for my motherboard.

Play your own music in OPS! Drop WAV, OGG or FLAC files to "My Documents/The Surge/songs"
A kill switch button combination for players being stuck has been added (Press 'LB', 'LT', 'RB', 'RT', 'LS' and 'RS' at the same time, 'F4' is the default binding on the keyboard) - Please only use this when your character is stuck.
Added an option to bind jumping/ducking from blocking to the left stick (when using a controller)

Bug Fixes:

Player will be able to block most attacks. This refers to enemy attacks that were only able to be ducked or hopped, which prior to the change ignored blocking. You will now be able to block these attacks, but they consume more stamina than 'standard' attacks.
Fixed some random crashes triggered by accessing invalid memory
Fixed some cases where display refresh rates were not displayed correctly within the menu (PC)
It is now easier to stagger enemies using light, faster-hitting weapons.
Removed Exploits where the player could receive unlimited Tech Scrap by switching the UI while dismantling objects
Potential random crash in the animation system
TDR crashes on Kepler GPUs (Nvidia 7## and 6## series)
Fixed holes in collision where the player could get stuck
Prevent the screensaver from kicking in when using a PS4 controller (PC)
Correctly apply fall damage when doing a plunging/jumping attack
The staff wielding security guards will no longer parry counter attacks and backstabs
Always apply the correct damage from counter attacks following from ducking under or jumping over enemy attacks
Fixed the behavior when binding target switching to the right stick
Properly store the button imagery configured in the options menu
Properly negate 100% toxic damage when wearing the Liquidator armor set
Enemy super armor was not decreasing properly in some cases after a string of quick successive hits
Fixed level transition elevators that were no longer available after dying in the moving elevator
Fixed respawn positions of the player on level transition elevators that caused players falling into their death immediately after loading a savegame
Loot drops of the smelting machines are now saved in the level so it can be collected even when dying after defeating the smelting machine
Fixed an issue where the "Big Sister" achievement did not unlock properly after killing the Big Sister 1/3
Mapping the dodge button to Circle will no longer cause the player to dodge every time the player "backs out" of the game menu.
Possible crash when leaving New Game+ at the beginning and starting a new game.
Gameplay blocker if the player does not collect the Security Exo-Rig after destroying the case. This will also fix broken saves.
Various AR elements should no longer appear in the wrong locations.
Counter attacks on drone enemies are no longer interrupted when using a Single-rigged weapon.
Closed door in Resolve Biolabs now opens correctly. This will also fix broken saves.
Using an implant that is on cooldown in the same moment an enemy is finished will no longer cause a repeating error message .
Fixed issues where armor items were unable to be equipped in New Game+.
Hobbs no longer asks for help after the player has helped him.
Player can no longer get stuck at certain stairs in the tunnels of Resolve Biolabs.
Player can no longer target the upper part of PAX while PAX is standing up.
Sorting items by 'Newest' now works properly.
Removed Quicksave/Quickload bindings.

Tweaks:

The values for health related implants have been adjusted to fall more in line with the desired/projected player health progression (more health)
The damage of the beam ranged attack of the Nano mass enemy has been reduced
The windup of the beam attack has been increased
Reduced the volume of the 'secret finding implant' - even more so when using a controller and rumble is enabled
Deactivate the 'secret finding implant' in the medbay
Implants granting a weapon proficiency level bonus now also grant a proficiency reward bonus so it becomes more viable to level up more than one weapon type
Added an option to bind jumping/ducking from blocking to the left stick (when using a controller)
Jumping/ducking from blocking can now also be done by pressing the bound keys for moving forward/backward (when playing with mouse and keyboard)
Tweaked hitboxes of the staff wielding security guards' attacks
Tweaked hitboxes of some enemies wielding fork lift weapons
Tweaked hitboxes of some enemies wielding two handed weapons
Tweaked the timings for the perfect block window for the player
Improved behavior of the Security Guard.
The music in Ops will no longer play after the player has died and respawned.
Improved behavior of the Black Cerberus when his attacks are blocked.
Elevator positions have been adjusted to avoid waiting for an elevator after dying.
Proximity Sensor no longer emits a beeping sound when an enemy is locked.
Character is now invulnerable for a short time after a finishing move is finished.
Increased the duration of the stamina buff triggered when collecting enough Tech Scrap to be worth a level up.
Reduced the stamina cost for continually blocking.
Increased the time for the continual block stamina cost to begin.

So I suppose if you like Souls games this'll work too? Would love a good Soulslike game.

I've basically played nothing but Souls games for the last two months

Apparently yes I'm thinking about getting it on PC.
Deck 13 did Lords of the Fallen which is a "Souls" game. I don't like it as much as DS3 or Bloodborne since it's slower paced but since it's so cheap it might be worth it for you If you get it, buy the PC version since the console versions are poor.

We'd like to extend a huge thank to all of you who joined CREO - we’ve been listening to your feedback, and we’ve been watching you enjoy The Surge!

The first patch for The Surge is now live! This patch includes tweaks and fixes based on player feedback, so feel free to read the changelog to learn about changes to the block, health injectors, and even the ability to add your own music to the med-bay!

The Surge - Update 53172 (P4) / 33503 (SVN)

Added:

Play your own music in OPS! Drop WAV, OGG or FLAC files to "My Documents/The Surge/songs"
A kill switch button combination for players being stuck has been added (Press 'LB', 'LT', 'RB', 'RT', 'LS' and 'RS' at the same time, 'F4' is the default binding on the keyboard) - Please only use this when your character is stuck.
Added an option to bind jumping/ducking from blocking to the left stick (when using a controller)

Bug Fixes:

Player will be able to block most attacks. This refers to enemy attacks that were only able to be ducked or hopped, which prior to the change ignored blocking. You will now be able to block these attacks, but they consume more stamina than 'standard' attacks.
Fixed some random crashes triggered by accessing invalid memory
Fixed some cases where display refresh rates were not displayed correctly within the menu (PC)
It is now easier to stagger enemies using light, faster-hitting weapons.
Removed Exploits where the player could receive unlimited Tech Scrap by switching the UI while dismantling objects
Potential random crash in the animation system
TDR crashes on Kepler GPUs (Nvidia 7## and 6## series)
Fixed holes in collision where the player could get stuck
Prevent the screensaver from kicking in when using a PS4 controller (PC)
Correctly apply fall damage when doing a plunging/jumping attack
The staff wielding security guards will no longer parry counterattacks and backstabs
Always apply the correct damage from counter attacks following from ducking under or jumping over enemy attacks
Fixed the behavior when binding target switching to the right stick
Properly store the button imagery configured in the options menu
Properly negate 100% toxic damage when wearing the Liquidator armor set
Enemy super armor was not decreasing properly in some cases after a string of quick successive hits
Fixed level transition elevators that were no longer available after dying in the moving elevator
Fixed respawn positions of the player on level transition elevators that caused players falling into their death immediately after loading a savegame
Loot drops of the smelting machines are now saved in the level so it can be collected even when dying after defeating the smelting machine
Fixed an issue where the "Big Sister" achievement did not unlock properly after killing the Big Sister 1/3
Mapping the dodge button to Circle will no longer cause the player to dodge every time the player "backs out" of the game menu.
Possible crash when leaving New Game+ at the beginning and starting a new game.
Gameplay blocker if the player does not collect the Security Exo-Rig after destroying the case. This will also fix broken saves.
Various AR elements should no longer appear in the wrong locations.
Counter attacks on drone enemies are no longer interrupted when using a Single-rigged weapon.
Closed door in Resolve Biolabs now opens correctly. This will also fix broken saves.
Using an implant that is on cooldown in the same moment an enemy is finished will no longer cause a repeating error message.
Fixed issues where armor items were unable to be equipped in New Game+.
Hobbs no longer asks for help after the player has helped him.
Player can no longer get stuck at certain stairs in the tunnels of Resolve Biolabs.
Player can no longer target the upper part of PAX while PAX is standing up.
Sorting items by 'Newest' now works properly.
Removed Quicksave/Quickload bindings.

Tweaks:

The values for health related implants have been adjusted to fall more in line with the desired/projected player health progression (more health)
The damage of the beam ranged attack of the Nano mass enemy has been reduced
The windup of the beam attack has been increased
Reduced the volume of the 'secret finding implant' - even more so when using a controller and rumble is enabled
Deactivate the 'secret finding implant' in the medbay
Implants granting a weapon proficiency level bonus now also grant a proficiency reward bonus so it becomes more viable to level up more than one weapon type
Added an option to bind jumping/ducking from blocking to the left stick (when using a controller)
Jumping/ducking from blocking can now also be done by pressing the bound keys for moving forward/backward (when playing with mouse and keyboard)
Tweaked hitboxes of the staff wielding security guards' attacks
Tweaked hitboxes of some enemies wielding forklift weapons
Tweaked hitboxes of some enemies wielding two handed weapons
Tweaked the timings for the perfect block window for the player
Improved behavior of the Security Guard.
The music in Ops will no longer play after the player has died and respawned.
Improved behavior of the Black Cerberus when his attacks are blocked.
Elevator positions have been adjusted to avoid waiting for an elevator after dying.
Proximity Sensor no longer emits a beeping sound when an enemy is locked.
Character is now invulnerable for a short time after a finishing move is finished.
Increased the duration of the stamina buff triggered when collecting enough Tech Scrap to be worth a level up.
Reduced the stamina cost for continually blocking.
Increased the time for the continual block stamina cost to begin.